A Complete Lifecycle Of A Chicken

For the majority of poultry enthusiasts, a complete lifecycle of a chicken is pretty fascinating!

I’m still in awe of the fact that an egg can harbor a microscopic germ that, in twenty-one days, can develop into a lovely little chick.

It is a modest daily miracle to consider that this chick will develop into a fat hen and then deposit eggs to maintain the evolution of the flock.

If the chick turns out to be a rooster, he may one day become the flock’s boss and be tasked with looking after the ladies.

The topic of today’s article will be the entire life cycle of a chicken, starting with the egg.

What Is A Complete Lifecycle Of A Chicken?

We must all have eaten chicken or eggs at some point in our lives, but how much do we know about them? What do we know about a healthy chicken or egg for breakfast, lunch or dinner? Here’s an analysis of how chickens end up on our dinner tables.

Stage: Lay Eggs

Every 23-25 hours, hens start laying eggs, a typical cycle. The eggs remain unfertilized unless the rooster fertilizes the hen and produces an embryo. The hen can retain the rooster’s sperm for up to three weeks. When the rooster fertilizes the hen, the hen begins to collect eggs to hatch and sit on them for 21 days. At this stage, the hens regularly turn the eggs to keep them warm and remove those that do not show good signs of development. On day 21, the chicks will emerge from the shell in a very wet state. Newborn chicks can last 23 to 70 hours when all the nutrients they get from egg whites are absorbed into their bodies to maintain nutrients, and they become dry and fluffy.

Stage: Chicks Born

Now that the chicks are born, they will stay under the hen’s wings so that the chicks can feel warm and safe, and the hen will take care of all the needs and care the chicks want. Newborn chicks and hens need fresh water and food with lots of protein at room temperature, and if they hatch, you need to provide the chicks with water and food with protein. Warm temperatures are important for chick development, and the heat lamp should be at 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), the same temperature as the chick. Reduce the temperature by five degrees every week until the chicks are acclimated to room temperature.

Stage: Chicks Grow

As the chicks grow, they soon develop real feathers by the second week. You can see that they are growing more feathers and developing rapidly. By the fifth week, the temperature should be equal to an air temperature of 65-70 ° F (18.33-21.11 ° C), when the chick is fully fledged and can control its body temperature through its feathers. It is also a time to protect the chicks from predators. By the eighth week, the chicks are eating green vegetables, grains, whiteflies and corn, and start to become little hens and cocks.

Stage: Pullet 

Puberty is not the happiest time in a chick’s life, because they are thin. Just as human children start out as teenagers, chicks start to do the same in their life cycles and try to integrate with adults who are well fed and stronger than the little hens, there’s a brutal war going on there, but if you separate them from the adults, it turns out all right. Roosters begin to lay eggs around this time, which are not of the same quality as eggs from normal hens and are called “little female eggs”. This is because the rooster’s first egg is small. They spend their adolescence learning from adults around them who are engaged in a variety of everyday activities.

Stage5: Hen 

When hens molt each year, they replace old, worn feathers to obtain new ones, but the new hens continue to lay eggs throughout the winter, so the supply of eggs is not hindered. After two months, the chick may become a brooder on its own and lay eggs in the nest to hatch, with the following cycle.

How Long For A Chicken To Live And Lay Eggs?

A hen that keeps laying eggs is a sign of good health. Hens usually lay their first egg at 18 weeks of age. In the first year, the most fertile and productive chickens can produce up to 250 eggs. But this did not last, with production capacity declining every year as hens reached retirement age, with fewer eggs after three years. On a commercial level, hens lay eggs every 22 hours and have a production capacity of about two years or less.

Well-reared backyard chickens produce a maximum of 250 eggs per year. These chickens need at least 24 hours to lay eggs, a process that occurs naturally in hens every year. The best breeds for egg production are Blue Andalusian (white), Amirakanas (blue), white Leighton (white), Rhode Island Red (brown), and Plymouth Rod Stone (brown).

If you control housing, feeding, management, weather, parasite load, nutrition, and medical care, a hen can produce one egg per day and 80-90% is considered good. It all depends on the living conditions of the hens, and most hens will naturally slow down in the winter and fall if they are denied light for at least 16 hours inside the coop. Therefore, the environment plays a crucial role in egg production. Chickens live for about five years, but hens are only productive enough to produce eggs for the first two years, sometimes even three. On a commercial level, hens can produce up to two years, sometimes even less. At its maximum productivity, hens can even lay once in 22 hours.

The Life Span Of Chickens Explanation

While some chicks may die within a few days of hatching, most will survive unless they have serious problems. Issues such as genetics, incubator problems, or infections can all contribute to high mortality in chicks – while the occasional death is sad, it is not alarming.

The greatest dangers to chicks and young chickens are coccidiosis and Marek’s disease.

There are prophylactic vaccines for both diseases, so if you order chickens from a hatchery, the cost is rarely worth it.

Chickens can live anywhere from three to eight years on average.

Chickens that are well protected from the usual predator hazards and other such problems will live much longer than in the past. The oldest chicken on record was over 20 years old when it died.

Making sure your cage and run is safe for your birds will help them live longer and be productive.

Disease and infection can be problematic, especially if the chickens have been in the same field for several years.

The accumulation of parasites and bacteria can cause many problems, from helminths to coccidiosis.

It is important to note that many breeds today are specifically bred for high egg production.

These breeds tend to die after a few years or so, as high productivity is detrimental to the birds’ longevity.

If you raise dual-use or conventional chickens, you can expect them to live for more than five years.

Conclusion

A chicken typically goes through four stages in its lifetime. With the exception of select breeds, which are known to live longer, a chicken has four separate life stages: the egg, chick, pullet, and chicken stage. A chicken typically lives for three to five years. A chicken will have different demands at each of these stages to ensure that they continue to grow and develop healthfully for the rest of their lives.